Zakariya al-Qazwini
, by Zakariya al-Qazwini]] Abu Yahya Zakariya' ibn Muhammad al-Qazwini ( ) or Zakariya Qazvini (Persian: ) ‎(1203–1283) was an ArabAl-Qazwīnī, Zakariyā Ibn Muḥammad Ibn Maḥmūd, Abū Yaḥyā." Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Apr. 2013 Al-Kawini, T. Lewicki, The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. IV, ed. E. van Donzel, B. Lewis, C. Pellat, (Brill, 1997), 865. or PersianĀṮĀR AL-BELĀD, C. E. Bosworth, Encyclopaedia Iranica; "Ātar Al-Belad: the title of a geographical work composed in Arabic during the 7th/13th century by the Persian scholar Abū Yaḥyā Zakarīyāʾ b. Moḥammad Qazvīnī". iranicaonline.org''Iranian Entomology: An Introduction, Volume I, ed. Cyrus Abivardi, (Springer, 2001), 495.Bernard Lewis, A Middle East Mosaic: Fragments of Life, Letters and History, (Random House, 2000), 439. physician, astronomer, geographer and proto-science fiction writer. He belonged to a family of jurists who had long before settled in Qazvin. He was a descendant of the Medina sahabi Anas bin Malik. Career Born in Qazvin, Persia, Zakariya Qazvini served as a legal expert and judge in several localities in Persia and at the city of Baghdad. He travelled around in Mesopotamia and the Levant, and finally entered the circle patronized by the governor of Baghdad, ‘Ata-Malik Juwayni (d. 1283 CE). It was to the latter that Qazvini dedicated his famous Arabic-language cosmography titled 'Aja'ib al-makhluqat wa-ghara'ib al-mawjudat ( ) ("Marvels of Creatures and Strange Things Existing"). This treatise, frequently illustrated, was immensely popular and is preserved today in many copies. It was translated into his native Persian language, and later also into Turkish. Qazvini was also well known for his geographical dictionary "Monument of Places and History of God's Bondsmen" ( ). Both of these treatises reflect extensive reading and learning in a wide range of disciplines. Qazvini also wrote a futuristic proto-science fiction Arabic tale entitled Awaj bin AnfaqClose encounters of the Arab kind, BBC News, 9 October 2013 ( ), about a man who travelled to Earth from a distant planet.Achmed A. W. Khammas, Science Fiction in Arabic Literature Qazvini mentioned how alchemists dubbed "swindlers" claimed to have carried out the transmutation of metals into gold; he states: See also *List of Iranian scientists References Sources * T. Lewick, 'Kazwini' in The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edition, ed. by H.A.R. Gibbs, B. Lewis, Ch. Pellat, C. Bosworth et al., 11 vols. (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1960–2002), vol. 4, pp 865–7 *L. Richter-Bernburg, 'al-Qazwini, Zakariyya' ibn Muhammad', in Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature, ed. by Julie Scott Meisami and Paul Starkey (London: Routledge, 1998), vol. 2, pp 637–8. *Islamic Medical Manuscripts at the National Library of Medicine. U.S. National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD. *His cosmography has been edited by F. Wüstenfeld, ‘Aja'ib al-makhluqat (Göttingen, 1849), and a partial German translation by A. Giese, Al-Qazwini, Die Wunder des Himmels und der Erde (Stuttgart and Vienna, 1986). *Zakarija ben Muhammed ben Mahmud el-Cazwini's: Kosmographie .. (1848) Volume: 1 *His geographical dictionary was edited by Wüstenfeld as Athar al-bilad (Göttingen, 1848). External links * * Turning the Pages Several pages from Al-Qazwini's Kitab Aja’ib al-makhluqat wa Gharaib al-Mawjudat, known as “The Cosmography” or “The Wonders of Creation.” * [http://rosettaapp.getty.edu:1801/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE481680 Kitāb al-ʻajāʾib wa al-gharāʼib.] Full online version from the Getty Library. Category:13th-century scientists Category:Iranian scientists Category:Medieval Islamic physicians Category:Islamic writers Category:1203 births Category:1283 deaths Category:Physicians of medieval Islam Category:Zoologists of medieval Islam Category:People from Qazvin Category:World Digital Library related